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"Ever since I woke up here on Earth, I can't catch a break. Why should I expect this to be any different?"

Have you ever had that feeling... like you've been asleep for a really long time? For what seems like a lifetime. And you have crazy dreams. Things you didn't even know your brain could imagine. But when you finally wake up... The dream isn't over?
Supergirl

Supergirl (2011) or Supergirl Vol 6 is Supergirl's sixth solo book and part of the New 52 initiative, which tells the adventures of Kara Zor-El after the New 52 reboot and before DC Rebirth, spanning forty issues plus several annuals and ties-ins. It was followed by Supergirl (Rebirth) and Supergirl Vol 7.

Kara Zor-El arrives on Earth after spending several decades in suspended animation. Upon waking up she finds out that Krypton is gone, her family is dead, her baby cousin is now a grown man and she is stranded on an alien world. As she adapts to her new home world and learns to trust her cousin again, Supergirl befriends Silver Banshee; fights villains such like Simon Tycho, the Worldkillers, H'el, Cyborg Superman and Lobo; takes part in the H'el on Earth, Krypton Returns and Superman: Doomed crossovers; joins briefly the Red Lanterns; and attends to the Crucible Academy before being entrusted the protection of Earth by Superman in The Final Days of Superman.

Mike Johnson, Tony Bedard and Kate Perkins wrote the book’s most well-regarded runs.


Supergirl (2011) provides examples of:

  • Action Girlfriend: In Supergirl #34, Kara begins a brief relationship with a nice, considerate wheelchair bound boy named Michael.
  • Adaptational Heroism: Syobhan Smythe, alias Silver Banshee, is usually a super villain. Here she is a nice girl who befriends Supergirl and helps her adapt to Earth.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: In issue #13, Kara gained the Sanctuary, a Kryptonian base at the bottom of the ocean. Unfortunately Sanctuary is programmed to eradicate any Kryptonian double in her presence. When Supergirl and her Earth 2 counterpart Power Girl enter Sanctuary in issue #19, it deems Supergirl the double and tries to eliminate her. The two Karas must destroy Sanctuary to save Supergirl. However, the A.I. survives in a robot body; hell-bent on destroying Supergirl.
  • Alien Among Us: This is the case for Supergirl, who came here as a teenager rather than being raised here as her cousin.
  • Alien Sky: Inverted in issue #1. Kara realizes she isn't in Krypton anymore when the Sun rises... and it's a yellow sun instead of red.
  • Almost Out of Oxygen: Subverted in Last Daughter Of Krypton. Supergirl believes she runs the risk of running out of oxygen while travelling across the galaxy towards Argo City. It's only several issues later that Kara discovers she doesn't need to breathe.
  • Alternate Self: Kara meets Power Girl in issues #19-20.
  • A Planet Named Zok: In Supergirl #21-24, Kara visits a world called I'noxia.
  • Appendage Assimilation: In issue #23, Cyborg Superman assimilates Kara's whole body.
    Cyborg Superman: I need you to fuse your consciousness with the I'noxian Collective. To become I'noxian.
    Supergirl: Oh. Why is that, exactly?
    Cyborg Superman: Your body. I need your flesh to reconstitute my own.
    Supergirl: (grimacing) You want to say that again? I couldn't hear you through all the creepiness coming out of your mouth!
  • Arc Villain: Supergirl faced a different villain every story arc:
  • Arranged Marriage: In the Post-Flashpoint Krypton parents often choose their children' spouse via gene-matching, although this custom was being phased out by the time of Kal and Kara. Issue #10 showed Alura wanting to get her daughter gene-matched, and Kara complaining she wanted to choose her partner freely.
  • Badass Biker: In Supergirl #21-24 Kara rides a space rocket bike.
  • Badass Boast: In New 52 Supergirl #24, Kara gives a real badass boast after getting killed by Cyborg Superman and being reborn:
    Supergirl: Cyborg Superman, show yourself! You stole my flesh, but in so doing made me anew! Do you see? Fists with the mass of moons, legs that burn with the heat of suns! I have the power of Creation at my fingertips and I will not stop until I have forged you a world of misery! Come to me, Cyborg Superman, and feel the wrath of what you have birthed!
  • Batman Can Breathe in Space: In issue #12, Kara learns she doesn't need to breathe when she dips in the ocean.
    And somehow... Impossibly... I don't have to breathe. Just like I don't need to eat anymore. I don't need to sleep anymore. I should be used to impossible byw now.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: Issue #21 is titled "Be Careful What You Wish for…" Kara arrives on I'noxia, a planet could completely recreate Krypton. However, Cyborg Superman's presence means the reimagining of Krypton can cost Kara her life.
  • Boyish Short Hair: Kara -who is a short-tempered, hot-blooded brawler and not feminine in the least- wears her hair this way.
  • Breaking the Bonds:
  • Bring My Brown Pants: In Superman #6, Supergirl saves an obnoxious reporter from falling out of the sky. When she brings him to the ground, Jimmy Olsen and the other reporters complain and order in a change of pants for him.
  • Boxing Lessons for Superman: Supergirl has been taught martial arts as part of her schooling on Krypton, although she's far from an expert.
  • Burning with Anger: In Supergirl #24, Kara is literally burning after Cyborg Superman stole her flesh to rebuild his body.
  • Cain and Abel: Tsavo and his brother Roho whom Kara met when she attended Crucible Academy.
  • Came from the Sky: Kara's space pod landed in Kansas, cut through the mantle and emerged in Siberia. When Kara left her pod, she was surrounded by a corporate-owned black-ops team who wanted to capture her to examine her. They didn't count on their target being a super-powerful Kryptonian and Superman arriving at the site during the ensuing melee.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: In Supergirl #0, several aliens were seen floating in several pods in the background. In the first arc, Kara met and fought four of those aliens -who were called Worldkillers-, and her leader revealed that there was a fifth worldkiller. Supergirl fought the last world-killer almost thirty issues later.
  • City in a Bottle: In issue #12 Kal shows Kara the Bottle City of Kandor.
  • Cleavage Window: In issue #20, Supergirl and Power Girl discuss the latter's cleavage-displaying costume.
    Power Girl: Uh... Old?
    Supergirl: No, not old. Just old...er... Older than me, anyway. And maybe a little too old for that outfit, too.
    Power Girl: What's wrong with this outfit?
    Supergirl: C'mon, Kara. It's a bit... much, don't you think?
    Power Girl: It came from your wardrobe, Supergirl!
    Supergirl: Yeah, but I never actually wore it.
  • Cool Bike: The KR-1 space-bike that Kara "borrowed" from Dr. Veritas lab. It is a rocket space bike.
  • Corrupted Contingency: The Sanctuary is programmed to eradicate any clones of her. Unfortunately, Sanctuary's A.I. doesn't discriminate between clones and doppelgangers from other universes, or even cares if these clones/doppelgangers mean Kara no harm. When Kara's Earth-2 counterpart Power Girl takes Kara to the fortress for medical attention in issue #19, the Sanctuary's A.I assumes Power Girl is a clone and tries to kill her, prompting the two Kryptonians to fight it together.
  • Crapsack Only by Comparison: Being raised in an incredibly technologically advanced society, Earth looked a war-torn, primitive world to Kara. It took some time for Kara finding what was good about her new home.
  • Crystal Spires and Togas: Krypton is definitely this. In Supergirl #12:
    Supergirl: My father Zor-El took me to see Kandor when I was a little girl. I thought it was the most beautiful place in the world. It wasn't as crowded or noisy as Argo or Kryptonopolis. It was like someone built a garden out of glass and light.
  • Data Crystal: During the opening arc, Kara discovers her father recorded his testament in a Sunstone so she can listen to his last words.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Supergirl also has some good deadpan lines. In Supergirl #22, after Cyborg Superman reveals that he needs her flesh to become whole again, Supergirl gives this gem of an answer:
    Supergirl: You want to say that again? I couldn't hear you through all the creepiness coming out of your mouth!
  • Death Glare: In Red Daughter of Krypton she does this constantly due to her Rage Ring fueling her anger. At the beginning of the story she glares at Lobo as she tells she's done with users... and with him. Lobo — an inter-galactic bounty hunter and mass murderer — gets scared and tries to calm her down.
  • Death Is Cheap: In issue #23, Kara gets killed and her soul thrown into a Hive Mind. Later her soul is reattached to her rebuilt body.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Kara crosses it in Supergirl #28. She starts out a nice, happy-go-lucky girl. Then her father places her in suspended animation inside a rocket and launches her out of Krypton. When she wakes up, she finds herself stranded on an alien, primitive world. Her family, her friends, her old life... are gone forever because her home world exploded nearly thirty years ago. Then she goes through several months of endless battles. Meanwhile, she appears to be unable to connect with her only living relative, she doesn't manage to fit in with Earth's people or keep any friends, and everyone she meets wants to decide what is better for her or tries to use her. She falls in love with someone who turns out to be a murderous, manipulative bastard. She has a chance to save her planet, and she fails... Then she runs into and fights Lobo, who intentionally presses her Berserk Buttons until she flips out. After pummeling him, Kara is mad like hell and feeling hurt, betrayed, confused and utterly hopeless, thinking she belongs anywhere and can trust no one.
  • Destructive Saviour:
    • Supergirl is a hero fully committed to save lives. Unfortunately she's also powerful enough to level whole cities, so when she fights an enemy who can force her to fight seriously, they often wreck the battlefield.
    • In Supergirl #7 she and four Worldkillers turn Manhattan into a war zone.
    • In Supergirl #31 and Red Lanterns #31, she and several Red Lanterns try to save planet Primeen's capital city. Unfortunately they almost burn it down when they fight Atrocitus, and Kara uses her heat vision to stop a blood storm. Supergirl feels horribly guilty, and Bleez mutters that they were supposed to be the good Red Lanterns.
  • Determinator: Kara never quits. Never. Not even when she's poisoned with Kryptonite, her body is getting stolen by an alien abomination, and her heart has stopped. Even so, she'll keep fighting. She explains that her mother taught her to never give up.
    Supergirl: But then I thought of mother. I remembered all I had to live up to. A daughter of the House of El never quits. I wasn't about to be the first.
  • Does Not Know His Own Strength: In Supergirl #27 Supergirl kicks Lobo so hard that she appears to kill him. Kara is so upset that she swears she didn't want to kill him and she cries she doesn't know her own strength.
    Supergirl: I don't even know my own strength!
  • The Dog Bites Back: In Supergirl #26, a crime lord is killed by the same dancers whom he mistreated.
  • Doppelganger Link: Supergirl and her Earth-2 counterpart Power Girl meet for the first time when the latter is being taken in by the US military. The two touch and share a brief psychic link that causes them to experience each other's memories.
  • Dragon Rider: In issue #10 "Rescuer", Supergirl rides a Kryptonian black Flamedragon when facing the Black Banshee in a Battle in the Center of the Mind.
  • Dual Wielding: In issue #10 "Rescuer", Supergirl wields two swords simultaneously while fighting the Black Banshee.
  • Dying Alone: In Supergirl #23, Cyborg Superman is stealing Supergirl's flesh. As she dies, Kara pleads with him that she doesn't want to die, let alone die alone.
    Supergirl: Please, I don't want to die. Not like this. I don't want to die alone.
  • Dynamic Entry:
    • In Supergirl #31, Red Lantern Sheko is about to mind-rape several more innocent bystanders when a heat blast hits her from behind. Cue Supergirl swooping in on her.
    • During The Final Days of Superman, this is how Kara barges in on the battle between her cousin and the Energy Superman: double-kicking the false Superman's back while she yells: "Leave my cousin alone!
  • Emergency Transformation: Kara manages to escape the exploding space station of an unscrupulous businessman, leaving him to die. He barely survives, with most of his limbs burned off, but returns having merged with a gelatinous alien in his possession, now capable of physically grappling with Kara and directly interfacing with technology like her Kryptonian data crystals through his nervous system.
  • Empty Piles of Clothing: Issue #23 has Supergirl infected with Kryptonite poisoning. Cyborg Superman plans to use her flesh as a building block to rebuild himself. He uses a machine that totally disintegrates Supergirl's body, 1) to scrub the poison in her system, 2) to analyze her form so he can remake his. The process leaves her empty costume crumpled in a heap on the floor.
  • Evil Me Scares Me: Siobhan Smythe fears that her Silver Banshee personality will take over her body when it manifests.
  • Exact Words: In Supergirl #26, Lobo is furious with his employeer Rhialla.
    Rhialla: There's no need for threats, Lobo. Besides, Section Nine of your contract forbids you from killing your employer, remember? And we both know you always honor a contract.
    Lobo: Contract says nothing about maiming you.
  • Fight Off the Kryptonite: In the H'el on Earth arc, Kara grabbed a Green-K shard and stabbed H'El with it, even though the radiation was killing her.
  • Fish out of Water: Unlike her cousin, who left Krypton when he was too young to remember it, Kara spent her formative years growing up in Kryptonian society before she was sent to Earth as a teenager. Understandably, she has a harder time adjusting to life on Earth than Kal-El ever did, as she still considers herself a Kryptonian at heart.
  • Fling a Light into the Future: Kara's father sent her to Earth to escape from the destruction of Krypton, and she eventually became one of its greatest heroes.
  • Forceful Kiss: After Kara has rescued his parents, Michael impulsively kisses her. He starts to say he's sorry, but Kara cuts him off and kisses him again.
  • Friendless Background: Kara had this issue for a long while. She was stranded in a strange planet, her family and old friends were all dead, she didn't trust her cousin, she had no friends and she felt very lonely and isolated. Her situation led to a Despair Event Horizon combined with a Rage Breaking Point and her becoming a Red Lantern for a while.
  • Future Me Scares Me: Seeing Power Girl makes Supergirl feeling bad because she feels pathetic in comparison.
  • Ghost Town: During Last Daughter of Krypton, Kara manages to find Argo City drifting around a blue star. Unfortunately, she finds the city seems abandoned. There's nobody alive around, and the buildings are decayed and thick with dust.
  • Go Through Me: In Supergirl #38 Maxima wants to bring Superboy back to Crucible. Supergirl steps in her way and declares that Maxima will have to go through her.
  • The Hero Dies: Supergirl gets killed by Cyborg Superman in "Be Careful What You Wish For", although she gets brought back to life in the next issue.
  • Heroes Love Dogs: Krypto was Kara’s family's dog. Kara is delighted when she learns that Krypto survived.
  • Heroic BSoD: In Red Daughter of Krypton Kara went through one after meeting and beating Lobo, believing everyone wanted to manipulate her and she belonged nowhere. She was so upset and furious that she became a Red Lantern. A while later she was told that she would be a Red Lantern forever because she would die if she took her Power Ring off. She fell to her knees in despair and fury, threw her head back and screamed while incandescent light poured from her eyes.
  • Hero Insurance: In Supergirl #31 and Red Lanterns #31, a city gets leveled and burned down because of a battle between two groups of Red Lanterns. Supergirl and her Red Lantern team want to help out with the post-battle clean-up and rebuilding, but the frightened locals beg them to leave as soon as possible.
  • He's Back!: At the end of "Red Daughter of Krypton" arc, Kara becomes again Supergirl, and decides to return to Earth and protect the planet.
  • High-Altitude Interrogation: Kara did this in the Crucible Academy story arc. After being abducted and taken to a weird, unknown place, she grabs the neck of one of her kidnappers and hovers over an abyss, demanding answers while reminding him that "It looks like a long way down."
  • Home Base: Sanctuary, Supergirl's base located on the bottom of the ocean.
  • I Found You Like This: In issue #34, Supergirl gets hit by a cloud of Kryptonite dust and passes out as flying. When she comes around, she finds herself in a fallout shelter, in company of a boy who introduces himself as Michael. As offering a bottle of water, Michael explains she crashed through his home's ceiling, and he took her to the basement so she could recover.
  • Imaginary Love Triangle: In Krypton Returns, H'el saw Supergirl hugging Superboy and he thought she was falling for Superboy. However Kara didn't love Superboy.
  • Incompatible Orientation: In Supergirl #40, Maxima (lesbian) has a crush on Supergirl (straight). She goes as far as to confess her feelings because she needs to get it off her chest, but she's quite aware her love is and will always be unrequited.
  • Innocent Blue Eyes: Kara has blue eyes. And before Krypton's destruction she was a nice, kind and compassionate young woman. She became sourer after losing her home and her family, but ultimately she outgrew her angst and anger issues.
  • Insignia Rip-Off Ritual: In issue #23 Supergirl rips the "S"-crest off a Superman's decoy, shouting he is a fake and doesn't deserve to wear it.
  • Inverse Law of Utility and Lethality: At the beginning of the series, Supergirl develops an ability called "Super Flare" which allows her to expel out the most of solar energy stored in her cells at once, causing a humongous fireball which obliterates everything around her and leaves her almost completely exhausted. So Kara decided it was too dangerous -since it doesn't discriminate between allies/innocent bystanders and enemies- and unreliable, and not worth of the effort, which is because she barely used it.
  • Jailbait Taboo: When an older super-villain hits on Supergirl, she hits him, shouting "I'm sixteen, you creep!"
  • Killed Off for Real:
    • H'el had his DNA unraveled before being left in Krypton's core as it exploded.
    • Simon Tycho was frozen solid and emprisoned in an undersea base which later got blown to smithereens.
    • Worldkiller-1 is thrown into the Sun and disintegrated.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: Supergirl was full of anger, bitterness and loneliness due to her family's loss and the perception that everyone intended to use her and then betray her, to the point that she became a Red Lantern in when her rage, self-loathing and despair pushed her beyond her breaking point. Still she never, not even at her lowest, stopped helping people in distress.
  • Last-Second Chance: In issue #26 Lobo has trashed a local crime lord and then he decides to leave. The downed crime lord foolishly opens fire on him.
  • Leave Me Alone!: In Supergirl #8, the USA Army attacks Supergirl. She shouts "Leave me ALONE!!!" and flies away.
  • Love Hurts:
    • Kara feels she has been betrayed or let down by most of people she has loved or cared for: her father, her cousin, her friend…
    • Kara fell for H'el. And then she found out he was an evil, manipulative bastard, and had to kill him.
  • Made of Indestructium:
    • Her cape and costume are a kind of indestructible Kryptonian armor.
    • Her Red Lantern outfit and cape never get damaged, not matter what happens to her. Justified since her RL uniform is made of raw energy.
  • Make Me Wanna Shout:
    • Supergirl displays this skill occasionally: first when attacked by the Powered Armour wearing mooks of Simon Tycho; then when fighting Black Banshee; and later when she accidentally shatters a windowpane. Black Banshee specifically notes it and mocks it as a pale reflection of his power, before giving her a demonstration.
    • Ironically, Silver Banshee is one of her best friends.
  • The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Kara briefly dated Michael, but she had to leave when she lost her powers.
  • Meanwhile, in the Future…: In Supergirl #26, H'El travels to Superboy's mission's time, while "simultaneously" fighting Supergirl, with the times synching up so that he is hit by multiple Super Family members at the "same time".
  • Mind Hive: In issue #21 Kara meets the people of the planet I'noxia who are not individuals, so much as a collective consciousness.
  • Mook–Face Turn: In Last Daughter of Krypton, Supergirl is captured and tortured by Simon Tycho, who looks to "examine" her. One of his henchmen isn't comfortable with the idea of his boss eviscerating a fifteen-year-old girl and breaks Kara free. Unfortunately he gets gunned down straight after.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Averted when Kara sees Michael's damaged spine and wonders if he was hurt when she fought the Worldkillers in New York. She's starting to get upset but Michael stops it when he says it was a car accident, no a hero-villain battle.
  • My Horse Is a Motorbike: In the Silver Age Supergirl rode a flying horse for a while. In "Be Careful What You Wish For" Kara rides a space rocket bike.
  • My Suit Is Also Super: Supergirl's costume is Kryptonian armor and nearly as indestructible as her.
  • Naked on Revival: In issue #23, Supergirl's body is dissolved by a machine, leaving her clothes lying in a pile. In the next issue, her body is restored by the same machine, but she has to manually put on her clothes. Also in issue #23, when Cyborg Superman becomes fully biological, his cybernetic parts fall off and he is left naked. He stays naked for the duration until he makes himself a cyborg again in issue #24.
  • Neck Lift:
    • In Supergirl #13, Kara grabs Simon Tycho's neck when he breaks into her underwater secret base.
    • In Supergirl #28 Kara grabs Lobo's neck and slams him into the nearest wall before punching him through it.
    • In the cover of Red Lanterns #31, Sheko does this to both Supergirl and Bleez.
    • In ''Justice League United #3, Lobo sucker-punched her. She grabbed his neck and lifted him off the ground before punching him across a valley.
    • In Supergirl #36 (first part of the Crucible arc), a stranger alien tests Supergirl. After finding him she grabs his neck, flies upwards and demands answers, reminding him that it's a very long drop.
  • Non-Action Guy: Kara had a short-lived relationship with a disabled boy named Michael, a normal, non-powered human.
  • Not Good with Rejection: Kara often falls for guys who later turn out to be jerks, super-villains or jerkass super-villains who hate when she sees through their ruse and breaks up with them. When it happens, they try to abuse her... and find out what bullying the obscenely super-powered, temperamental girl is a spectacularly bad idea. H'el is a case in point: he doesn't take well when she turns against him.
  • Other Me Annoys Me: Power Girl makes Kara feel upset since she feels she's a failure compared with her alternate older self. Power Girl gets mad with Supergirl when her Earth-Prime self called her "old". Supergirl apologizes, explaining she didn't meant it but she says stupid things when she gets upset. Power Girl admits that she used to be like that, too.
    Supergirl: Sanctuary and I are going to have a very long talk about manners after this.
    Power Girl: You going to explain to her that it's rude to call people old?
    Supergirl: ... I'm sorry, Kara. I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that this is the one place where I shouldn't have to worry about anything. So this is all incredibly frustrating. And when I get frustrated I say some pretty stupid things.
    Power Girl: I remember when I was like that, too.
  • Our Hero Is Dead: In Supergirl #23 Cyborg Superman steals Kara's body to restore his, killing her in the process. She got hers body back in the next issue.
  • Parental Abandonment: Kara loses her parents when they send her to Earth to save her from the destruction of Krypton.
  • Parental Hypocrisy: In Supergirl #10, Alura wants to get her daughter gene-matched in order to find her a suitable suitor. Kara dislikes the process and points out that her parents didn't do that. Alura’s retort? "That was different".
    Kara: But why do I have to gene-match at all? You and father didn't, and you still found each other!
    Alura: That was different. Our situation was... unique.
  • Pietà Plagiarism:
    • It happened twice in the H'el on Earth arc: Wonder Woman carried Kara in her arms after knocking her out in Supergirl #17, and Superman did this to her cousin to carry her to safety when she got kryptonite-poisoning in Superman #17.
    • In the cover of Supergirl #20, Power Girl is holding an unconscious Supergirl.
    • In Supergirl #33, Worldkiller-1 holds a dying Supergirl in his arms before dumping her in the Sun (a move which was fortunate for her and incredibly dumb of him).
  • Power Misidentification: Kara's friend Siobhan Smythe/Silver Banshee gets attacked by her abusive father, Black Banshee. Supergirl tries to help, but he is unaffected by her heat vision. He mistakes her for a fellow practitioner of magic and mocks her for her weak spells.
  • Powers Do the Fighting: In Red Lanterns #30, Supergirl has to stop Bleez from leaving med bay. She accomplishes this by blocking the doorway and standing her ground when Bleez tries to shove her aside. She did nothing; she just stood there as Bleez found out she can't overpower a Kryptonian.
  • Quit Your Whining: In issue #21, Kara visits Siobhan to say goodbye because Earth has been harsh towards her. Siobhan explains that everybody has troubles and issues, and Kara is not different. After Kara complains her friend doesn't understand, Siobhan angrily decides to return to her work, because Kara seems intent on pouting about her problems instead of fixing them.
  • Relative Error: It happens to Kara several times because most of people don't know she is Superman's cousin. When Tycho sees her outfit he states maybe she is Superman's girlfriend. A while later Michael asks Kara whether Superman is her boyfriend.
    Michael: I mean, I don't know exactly how you and Superman are connected, but I can tell he matters to you. He's... What? Your brother? Your boyfriend...?
    Supergirl: ... My cousin.
  • Ring World Planet: Crucible Academia is one of these.
  • The Ruins I Caused: In "Last Daughter of Krypton", Supergirl blasts Simon Tycho's satellite base's central core and then stands around watching while the place catches fire, falls apart and finally blows up.
  • Sanity Slippage: "Out of the Past" reveals Krypton's destruction and his inability to save Argo City and his own family have deteriorated Zor-El's sanity to the point he strikes a bargain with Brainiac of all people and becomes Cyborg Superman.
  • Scene Cover:
    • The cover of the first issue of Red Daughter Of Krypton features an enraged, eye-glowing Kara grabbing a Red Lantern Ring.
    • The cover of issue #37 -during the Crucible Academia story arc- features Kara struggling against several versions of her wearing her Red Lantern outfit, her work clothes and a Kryptonian armor. It really happens in the history, although they are only psychical projections.
  • Secret Public Identity: Kara never gets a secret identity or assumed name, not even when she lands a job as a barista.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: In Hel On Earth, H'el talks Supergirl into helping him save Krypton, assuring that no one would suffer. She believes him... until she finds out that he omitted several key details when he explained his plan.
    Supergirl: H'el, you never said anything about sacrifice! About threatening this planet! About killing innocent people!
    H'el: Killing? I'm not killing anyone! When we go back in time, this planet and its people will still exist, only thrust back to its own past! What happens to them today will be no more real than a bad dream! Surely you see that, beloved —
    Supergirl: Don't call me that! You used me! You told me everything I wanted — everything I needed — to hear! And now people might be dying because I helped you!
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Kara fell for a nice, kind-hearted guy called Michael. After meeting Red Hood, Michael is worried that she will like a "bad boy" like Jason Todd, but Kara states that she doesn't want bad boys, but someone normal and dependable.
    Supergirl: Some girls go for that sort of thing. Me? I just want something normal. Something real.
  • Smug Snake: Simon Tycho is a manipulative corrupt businessman and arms dealer, who albeit cunning, tends to overestimate his own smarts and resourcefulness a lot. In Last Daughter of Krypton, he thought kidnapping a Kryptonian girl and pilfering her techonology was a good idea. When she breaks free -thanks to one mook taking issue with his boss torturing a girl- and starts wrecking his base, Tycho does nothing but frantically shout at his soldiers "Take her down!". He ends up with half body scorched because he refuses to evacuate and admit he has been "defeated by a little girl" when the place is exploding around him. Later on, he finds her secret underwater Home Base and tries to force Kara to relinquish control of her Fortress. Instead, Kara uses said control to freeze him into a chunk of Sunstones, which means he was still inside the base when it later blows up.
  • Speaks Fluent Animal: Silver Banshee can speak any verbal language, which she demonstrates to Supergirl by talking to doves.
  • Sudden Principled Stand: In Last Daughter of Krypton, Simon Tycho kidnaps Supergirl, planning on dissecting her. Nonetheless, one of his mercenaries decides he didn't sign for hurting young girls and releases Kara.
  • Super-Breath: Kara can blow gale-force hurricane winds out of her mouth, exhale blasts of ultra-cold air and survive underwater or in space without breathing.
  • Super-Toughness: Kara first discovers she is very, very hard when she gets caught in an explosion and she doesn't get harmed.
  • Tempting Fate: In Supergirl #19, several Luthor's henchmen are trying to seize Supergirl. Two of them comment they'd hate to see what she could do when she grows up. Cue Power Girl showing up and trashing them.
  • 10-Minute Retirement: Kara gave up being Supergirl when she became a Red Lantern. It didn't last long.
  • There Was a Door: In Last Daughter of Krypton Simon Tycho is looking for Supergirl as she's tearing his base and his troops down. Right when he is demanding that someone shows him where she is, the ground in front of him explodes and Supergirl flies in through the gap.
  • Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Kara found out that Krypton, her family, her friends, her old life... were gone right after crash-landing on Earth. For a long time she was an upset, lonely, sad teenager struggling through her abandonment and anger issues and her inability to fit in with humans. After Character Development, though, she lets her anger and confusion go and becomes a happier and more optimistic person.
  • Tranquil Fury:
  • Troubled, but Cute: Kara was a lonely, sad, hot-tempered, Hot-Blooded teenager with abandonment and anger issues -a ton of anger issues- before Character Development kicked off. She was a Guy Magnet, too. Once she asked a boy if he wasn't frightened of her, and he said no, because she was beautiful.
  • Turned Against Their Masters: Kara used to hate clones because several centuries ago an army of clones rebelled and nearly succeeded in destroying the planet and killing off all Kryptonians. In the aftermath of the Clone Rebellion, cloning became banned, and children were taught that clones are evil and cannot be trusted.
  • Underwater Base: Kara got her own undersea base -called Sanctuary- in issue #12. Unfortunately it got blown up in issue #20.
  • Unwanted Rescue:
    • In H'el on Earth, When the Justice League storms the captured Fortress of Solitude, The Flash is tasked with finding and rescuing Supergirl. However, Supergirl doesn't want to be rescued because she's working with H'el in the time.
    • In The Final Days of Superman, Superman seeks his cousin out, who has been missing for several weeks. When he finally finds Supergirl, she is unconscious and strapped to a chair at a Government facility. So he bashes his way into the place, rips Supergirl out of some sort of weird device, and flies her away. When Kara comes around, she tells him she did NOT need saving because they were helping her get her powers back.
      Supergirl: I did NOT need saving, Kal.
  • Up, Up and Away!: She uses to keep their arms aimed forward when she flies.
  • Villainous Crush: H'el claimed to love her. He also planned to blow the Sun up in order to save Krypton.
  • X-Ray Vision: In Supergirl #2, her X-Rays first activate when she's fighting Superman. Having no idea what her powers are, she freaks out when she sees her own bones.
  • You're Not My Father: In Red Daughter of Krypton Kara says this line after her team's leader tells she shouldn't drink booze because she's just a kid.
    Supergirl: You're not my parent, Guy Gardner, and from what I understand, you don't even lead this team.

Supergirl: For better or worse, this planet is my home now. I want to live among its people. Real people living real lives. The lives we've fought so hard to protect. Or did you forget that?

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